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EXHIBIT 99.1
Contact:
Mary P. Sundeen, Sr. Director
Corporate Communications
301-738-2490
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 2, 2000
EXTREMED, INC. ISSUES STATEMENT ON KRINGLE 5 LAWSUIT
Rockville, MD, ...June 2, 2000...EntreMed, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENMD) today
issued a statement on the inventorship lawsuit filed by Abbott Laboratories
against Children's Hospital, Boston.
In 1994, Drs. Judah Folkman, Michael O'Reilly and their team of
scientists at Children's Hospital, Boston discovered Angiostatin(R), an
endogenous protein with antiangiogenic properties which may be useful in the
treatment of cancer, blindness, arthritis, and other diseases of abnormal blood
vessel growth. Angiostatin(R) is derived from the plasminogen molecule, a
well-known clotting factor. Drs. O'Reilly and Folkman discovered that the five
folded regions, called kringles, of the plasminogen molecule have antiangiogenic
activity.
EntreMed created a recombinant version of human Angiostatin(R)
protein (rhuAngiostatin) using kringles 1-3 of the parent plasminogen molecule.
A Phase I clinical trial is now underway at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
in Philadelphia, to assess the safety of rhuAngiostatin in advanced cancer
patients.
On May 30, 2000, Abbott Laboratories filed a lawsuit in the state of
Massachusetts relating to determination of inventorship of the antiangiogenic
activity of the kringle 5 region of the plasminogen molecule. Although named as
a defendant in the complaint filed on May 30th, EntreMed has not been served
with any legal documents in this case. This lawsuit is not related, in any
manner, to EntreMed's rhuAngiostatin molecule consisting of kringles 1-3
currently in clinical testing in humans. EntreMed does not believe that this
lawsuit will have any impact on the clinical development of its product
candidate, rhuAngiostatin.
Quoting from U.S. Patent No. 5,639,725, issued to Children's
Hospital, Boston and filed on April 26, 1994: It contemplated that any isolated
protein or peptide having a three dimensional kringle-like conformation or
cysteine motif that has anti-angiogenic activity in vivo is part of the present
invention. Further, EntreMed has rights to patents on Angiostatin(R) molecules
that cover all combinations of the kringle regions, including the kringle 5
domain. (U.S. Patent No. 5,854,221). EntreMed will vigorously defend any action
that contests our rights to any fragment of the Angiostatin(R) molecule.
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Dr. John Holaday, EntreMed Chairman, President and Chief Executive
Officer commented on the Abbott filing: "The lawsuit filed by Abbott
Laboratories is a reprehensible attempt to discredit Dr. Judah Folkman, the
pioneer of antiangiogenesis therapeutics and one of the world's foremost cancer
researchers. By attempting to intimidate parties in order to obtain the rights
to a product it neither discovered, nor owns, Abbott has taken the lowest road
in calling into the question the reputation of a brilliant scientist and
compassionate human being who has dedicated over thirty years to improving the
lives of cancer patients. I find Abbott's lawsuit against Dr. Folkman and a
medical center dedicated to the wellbeing of children egregious, tasteless, and
shameful."
Rockville, MD-based EntreMed, Inc. The Angiogenesis Company(TM) is a
leader in the field of antiangiogenesis research, which studies the inhibition
of abnormal blood vessel growth recently associated with a broad range of
diseases such as cancer and atherosclerosis. The Company's strategy is to
accelerate development of its core technologies through collaborations and
sponsored research programs with university medical departments, research
companies and government laboratories. For further information, please visit the
EntreMed web site at www.entremed.com.
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